One In A Mille
When it comes to pushing the boundaries of haute horlogerie, Richard Mille is a true master. Cécile Guenat details the extraordinary lengths taken to blur the line between haute couture and technical innovation. By Amy Yasmine.
hen I designed this collection, it was the summer of [the launch of] Pokémon Go, and the notion of ‘morphing’ that underlies its creatures’ evolution inspired certain aspects of the collection,” said Cécile Guenat, Richard Mille’s first-ever director of its ladies’ collection. It isn’t every day you hear a collection being borne out of a Japanese mobile game, but for the former jewellery designer, inspiration hits at the most unexpected of ways. “I also drew on tribal arts—masks, African sculptures, and so on—which impact on all great modern and contemporary artists has been enormous. The contrasts, geometry, and sacred character of these objects fascinate me because they prefigure elements of today’s design through their fusion of content and form.”
The amalgamation of these two elements resulted in the latest RM 71-01 Automatic Tourbillon Talisman, in which the Calibre CRMT1 is the first automatic tourbillon conceived by Richard Mille’s master watchmakers. Powered by a gem-set rotor with variable geometry, the Calibre CRMT1 enables its winding to be adjusted to the owner’s activity level, while its free-sprung balance with variable inertia represents the ultimate in innovation. Think greater reliability when it comes to shocks, resulting in better chronometric results over time. “Our technical director for movements, Salvador Arbona, showed us the automatic in-house tourbillon, and I was immediately smitten,” Guenat explained. “When they invited me to work on it and asked if I would design its casing, I got a little carried away, and rather than sticking to a single idea, I found myself drawing different versions!”
This translated into the collection’s 10-strong variations— limited to five timepieces, each. Working within a span of nine months to conceive a single set, Richard Mille’s mains d’or riffed on the Art Deco and tribal arts movements. Delicate mother-of-pearls, onyxes, and diamonds form talismanic tribal masks and geometric motifs, and adorn the tonneau-shaped casing. Considering its vast design spectrum, other metiers d’art were called in; for forging a “groove” in gold to guarantee a neat finish between surfaces, or for challenging gem-setting instances.
“It’s standard in watchmaking to design a single casing that is produced using different stones,” Guenat noted. “But as I began drawing, I became convinced that the idea of a collection, in the sense of haute couture or fine jewellery, was more exclusive and more likely to interest customers.” Or, in its purest essence, form meets function. Richard Mille, UG15A, Adorn Floor, Starhill Gallery. Tel: 03-2144 0669